Plutarch’s book on renowned Iranian, Greek men republished

IBNA– The book ‘The Biography of Great Men of Iran and Greece’ by Plutarch, translated into Persian by Ahmad Kasravi, provides the life history of several ancient renowned men from Iran and Greece.

According to IBNAcorrespondent, in the introduction of the book ‘Plutarch, the Biography of Great Men of Iran and Greece’, historian and linguist Ahmad Kasravi writes: “From the Iranian perspective, the great benefit of Plutarch’s book lies in the fact that it contains stories and information about the Iranian history which cannot be found in any other source. This includes the fate of Xeroxes II of the Achaemenid Empire, the story of Alexander, Crassus and so forth.’
On the writer’s attempt to separate history from fiction, Kasravi writes: “The history of Herodotus and the Xenophon book, and other similar writings left from those times, have been so sweetly written and contain so many fictions. However, Plutarch has made a great attempt to separate the true stories from the false myths through research.”
In describing the characteristics of this work of Plutarch, we read: “In addition to this advantage, Plutarch’s book includes other beneficial features: He himself loved chivalry and liberty, and in his book, he praises those who had the same characteristics and blames the opponents.
It is well-written that Plutarch is rather like a moralist tutor in his book than a historian, and the readers of the ancient history learn moral lessons from his books.
Despite being a Greek, Plutarch is impartial in accounts on his own people and the others, and at times, when referring to the behavior of Iranians and Iranian kings, he fairly judges between them and the Greeks and blames his own compatriots when necessary.
Plutarch’s style of writing is very simple and clear and he never brings lengthy descriptions.
The book ‘Plutarch, the Biography of Great Men of Iran and Greece’, by Plutarch is published in 564 pages, with a print run of 1000 copies by Donya-ye Ketab Publications in Tehran.